Jefferson-Scranton fourth graders in Mrs Connie Hoffman’s class will likely never forget the unit they did in persuasive writing. They not only wrote letters, they received answers, and even a visit from school board president Sam Harding and superintendent Tim Christensen.
As Hoffman explains, she started the unit with a discussion to find out what issues were important to the students. She admits she led the discussion toward advocating for more Chromebooks for their classroom, but a student who had moved in from a district with SmartBoard interactive technology turned the conversation that way.
A good persuasive argument is based on fact, so Hoffman asked the students to send emails to principals in five neighboring schools asking if their schools have SmartBoards. They used that information and wrote letters to school board members and Christensen suggesting the school purchase SmartBoards.
Board members responded to the students, and Christensen and Harding even made a trip to their classroom. “The students felt sophisticated, special, because they are only 10 years old and they got the school board’s attention,” Hoffman said.
Christensen and Harding talked with the students about the expense and time involved in putting SmartBoards in all the classrooms. “It was a really good discussion,” Harding said at the April 9 Greene County school board meeting. He challenged the students to do the math and calculate that a $2,500 Smart Board for every classroom would cost the district a $250,000. He explained prioritizing projects.
“It was a teachable moment,” Christensen said. “They took the opportunity to do it. They had done their research. There was one fourth grader who asked ‘Why don’t you take it out of voter-approved PPEL and SILO funds?'”
“They asked tough questions and demanded good answers. It was a very good discussion and a very good learning moment for them,” Harding said.
Hoffman said students felt empowered by the end of the unit. The students thought the board members had really listened to them and considered their “plot” to get a SmartBoard. “These important people who have the power to change things came to our class to see us,” Hoffman reported one of her students saying.
Along with practicing the mechanics of writing, the students learned about civic participation. “The students learned that if they want to persuade anyone to their side of thinking they first had to do some research, find things that will get their attention. I believe two words I got back from a school board member were ‘guilt’ and ‘shame’,” Hoffman said. “If they want things to change they have to offer solutions to a problem and back it up with some evidence to persuade them into getting what they want. This gets them involved in their school and community and that’s how change will start. Knowledge works.”
